Candidate opposes vacancy appointment

Spring-Ford Area School Board candidate Kathleen Drennan said she disagrees with the possibility of the board appointing someone to fill a vacancy on the board this late in the elec- tion season, adding she would not accept an appointment if it was offered to her.

“My thoughts are that it has been at least 12 months, maybe 16 months, since (former school board member) Todd Wolf has been there,” Drennan told Digital First Media Monday. “So the fact that it would be open for two or threemonths, I don’t see themajor difference fromtheway the board has conducted their business.” Following the June 19 decision to officially accept Wolf’s resignation, the board has 30 days to decide it if wants to appoint someone to serve the remainder of his term, which is scheduled to end in December.

If it chooses not to act within the 30 day window, anyone from Region 2 could petition theMontgomery County Court of Common Pleas to appoint someone to fill the spot, taking the decision entirely out of the board’s hands.

That includes Region 2 candidates Clinton Jackson and Dren-

nan, who both won a race in theMay 16 primary. After the November general election, one of themwill fill the seat for the following fouryear term.

Drennan felt voters should be the ones to decide who fills the seat when they go to the polls in November and said appointing either candidate running for the spot would be unfair.

As for whether she would accept an appointment from either the board or from a judge, Drennan said she’s already toldboardPresident Joe Ciresi shewould not.

“Iwould not accept it,” she said. “Itwould go againstmy principles. It’s not for a judge to decide, it’s for the people to decide.”

Jackson meanwhile left the door open to petition a judge to make a ruling on the seat should the situation come to that.

“That’s something I would consider,” he said at last week’s meeting. “Right now I don’t know. But it would be somethingwewoulddiscuss and seewhat’s inthe best interest of the school district and the campaign.”

A similar situation happened three years ago, when Jackson, a candidate for the board, petitioned the court to allow himto fill a vacancy, Fitzgerald said. Montgomery County Court Judge Bernard A. Moore granted his peti- tion two months after the vacancy opened up. Jackson was chosen over Janet Stokes, whose petition was denied. The school board was deadlocked 4-4 between the two candidates.

Meanwhile, Drennan opposed the idea of Jackson potentially seeking a board appointment.

“I disagree with taking that route,” she said. “I just disagree. If it was two years inthe future that’sonething, but a few months following a year of not having (Wolf), that’s a totally different situation.”

That said, if Jacksonwere appointed to the board, Drennan admitted she would be concerned.

“If he was appointed it would put me in an unfavorable position,” she said. “I realize the possibility is there. I believe people should choose, not a judge. I’m not going to go againstmy principles.”

Jackson previously said he felt the board needed to make a decision.

“I think the board needs to act on it and do something,” he said. “To do nothing, I think, is unfair. I understand both sides of it from previously serving on the board and going through this process previously. But I think the board needs to do something and not leave it in the hands of the courts.”

A Limerick resident, Wolf, 59, works as the president of the construction consulting firm Field General Inc. He cited personal reasons and business commitments in his May 26 letter to the boardas towhyhewas stepping down. He did not seek re-election in theMay 16 primary andmissedmost of the board meetings in the past year.